Amanda Knox has returned to the United States wearing the halo of victimhood for a crime she presumably did not commit. But it should not be forgotten that in her long journey toward exculpation, she blamed an innocent black man for the murder for which she was accused.

Diya "Patrick" Lumumba -- a Congolese-born resident of Italy -- owned a bar in Perugia that he named Le Chic. Knox worked there part time. When the Italian police questioned Knox about the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher, she implicated Lumumba. He was promptly arrested. And yes, we've seen it all before. Before there was Amanda Knox, there was Charles Stuart.

Knox told Italian police in a written statement that she saw Lumumba enter Kercher's room on the evening of Nov, 1, 2007. She later admitted that this version of events was made up but implied that it was made up under duress. Knox's attorneys say that she blamed Lumumba after enduring 14 hours of nonstop questioning from police and prosecutors who had "breached her civil rights."

But what about the civil rights of the man she maligned, who spent two weeks in an Italian jail before Knox's story fell apart?

3. There was a mountain of solid evidence against one particular black man, Rudy Guede.

He left hundreds of pieces of physical evidence, including fingerprints, shoe prints, hair, and DNA both inside and on the victim's body. And he had a recent history of carrying knives while he carried out burglaries.

By contrast, there wasn't a single trace of Amanda's presence in the murder room and the only piece of evidence the prosecutor claimed connected Sollecito to the room was a bra clasp -- which neutral, court appointed experts from the University of Rome testified could not be used as reliable evidence. They said that there were so many alleles on the bra clasp -- due to contamination in the 6 weeks the clasp had been kicked around the room -- that a profile of ANYONE's DNA could have been found on it -- including the Judge's.

There was also no evidence that Amanda, Raffaele, and Guede had had any kind of relationship or any contact before the murder. And Guede spoke no English -- and Amanda had only had a few months of practice. It is ludicrous to think these strangers who spoke different languages would have gotten together and carried out this murder.

4. DUers might be interested to know that the websites that have been spreading hate

Edited on Sun Oct-16-11 04:08 AM by pnwmom

against Amanda and Raffaele for the last four years -- now that the two wrongfully accused have been released -- have embarked on a campaign to stalk Amanda both at home and on the web. Just so you know.

The police didn't provide Amanda with a lawyer or a neutral interpreter, and they made no record of the interrogations. They had her sign two statements written in "police Italian" that she could barely read, after only one class in Italian. But here is the statement she wrote by hand in English within hours of the coerced statements. It wasn't Amanda's decision to hold Lumumba for two weeks -- that was the police decision. They were also the first to name Lumumba, because they had found a hair belonging to a black man at the murder scene. When they saw Patrick talking to Amanda after the murder, they decided he was that black man -- and they thought their suspicions were confirmed when they found a text she'd sent to him on her cell phone saying, "See you later! Bye!" So then they started pressing Amanda about him, telling Amanda that they had hard evidence that she and Lumumba were at the cottage when Meredith was murdered, telling her that she must be blocking her memory of the evening, until she finally cracked in the middle of the night.

I have copied the whole note below because Amanda and her family aren't claiming copyright. They want the truth to come out -- unlike the haters, who wish to spread lies.

Please note: Before she wrote this, she was told that Raffaele had denied she was with him that night -- which was a lie. The truth was they pushed him until he acknowledged that yes, WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING, he could not be sure she was with him every minute. But they told her something very different, that he had denied being with her at his apartment.

Transcript of Amanda Knox's handwritten statement to police on the evening of November 6, the day she was arrested:

This is very strange, I know, but really what happened is as confusing to me as it is to everyone else. I have been told there is hard evidence saying that I was at the place of the murder of my friend when it happened. This, I want to confirm, is something that to me, if asked a few days ago, would be impossible.I know that Raffaele has placed evidence against me, saying that I was not with him on the night of Meredith's murder, but let me tell you this. In my mind there are things I remember and things that are confused. My account of this story goes as follows, despite the evidence stacked against me:

On Thursday November 1 I saw Meredith the last time at my house when she left around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Raffaele was with me at the time. We, Raffaele and I, stayed at my house for a little while longer and around 5 in the evening we left to watch the movie Amelie at his house. After the movie I received a message from Patrik , for whom I work at the pub "Le Chic". He told me in this message that it wasn't necessary for me to come into work for the evening because there was no one at my work.

Now I remember to have also replied with the message: "See you later. Have a good evening!" and this for me does not mean that I wanted to meet him immediately. In particular because I said: "Good evening!" What happened after I know does not match up with what Raffaele was saying, but this is what I remember. I told Raffaele that I didn't have to work and that I could remain at home for the evening. After that I believe we relaxed in his room together, perhaps I checked my email. Perhaps I read or studied or perhaps I made love to Raffaele. In fact, I think I did make love with him.

However, I admit that this period of time is rather strange because I am not quite sure. I smoked marijuana with him and I might even have fallen asleep. These things I am not sure about and I know they are important to the case and to help myself, but in reality, I don't think I did much. One thing I do remember is that I took a shower with Raffaele and this might explain how we passed the time. In truth, I do not remember exactly what day it was, but I do remember that we had a shower and we washed ourselves for a long time. He cleaned my ears, he dried and combed my hair.

One of the things I am sure that definitely happened the night on which Meredith was murdered was that Raffaele and I ate fairly late, I think around 11 in the evening, although I can't be sure because I didn't look at the clock. After dinner I noticed there was blood on Raffaele's hand, but I was under the impression that it was blood from the fish. After we ate Raffaele washed the dishes but the pipes under his sink broke and water flooded the floor. But because he didn't have a mop I said we could clean it up tomorrow because we (Meredith, Laura, Filomena and I) have a mop at home. I remember it was quite late because we were both very tired (though I can't say the time).

The next thing I remember was waking up the morning of Friday November 2nd around 10am and I took a plastic bag to take back my dirty cloths to go back to my house. It was then that I arrived home alone that I found the door to my house was wide open and this all began. In regards to this "confession" that I made last night, I want to make clear that I'm very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion. Not only was I told I would be arrested and put in jail for 30 years, but I was also hit in the head when I didn't remember a fact correctly. I understand that the police are under a lot of stress, so I understand the treatment I received.

However, it was under this pressure and after many hours of confusion that my mind came up with these answers. In my mind I saw Patrik in flashes of blurred images. I saw him near the basketball court. I saw him at my front door. I saw myself cowering in the kitchen with my hands over my ears because in my head I could hear Meredith screaming. But I've said this many times so as to make myself clear: these things seem unreal to me, like a dream, and I am unsure if they are real things that happened or are just dreams my head has made to try to answer the questions in my head and the questions I am being asked.

But the truth is, I am unsure about the truth and here's why:

1. The police have told me that they have hard evidence that places me at the house, my house, at the time of Meredith's murder. I don't know what proof they are talking about, but if this is true, it means I am very confused and my dreams must be real.

2. My boyfriend has claimed that I have said things that I know are not true. I KNOW I told him I didn't have to work that night. I remember that moment very clearly. I also NEVER asked him to lie for me. This is absolutely a lie. What I don't understand is why Raffaele, who has always been so caring and gentle with me, would lie about this. What does he have to hide? I don't think he killed Meredith, but I do think he is scared, like me. He walked into a situation that he has never had to be in, and perhaps he is trying to find a way out by disassociating himself with me.

Honestly, I understand because this is a very scary situation. I also know that the police don't believe things of me that I know I can explain, such as:

1. I know the police are confused as to why it took me so long to call someone after I found the door to my house open and blood in the bathroom. The truth is, I wasn't sure what to think, but I definitely didn't think the worst, that someone was murdered. I thought a lot of things, mainly that perhaps someone got hurt and left quickly to take care of it. I also thought that maybe one of my roommates was having menstral problems and hadn't cleaned up. Perhaps I was in shock, but at the time I didn't know what to think and that's the truth. That is why I talked to Raffaele about it in the morning, because I was worried and wanted advice.

2. I also know that the fact that I can't fully recall the events that I claim took place at Raffaele's home during the time that Meredith was murdered is incriminating. And I stand by my statements that I made last night about events that could have taken place in my home with Patrik, but I want to make very clear that these events seem more unreal to me that what I said before, that I stayed at Raffaele's house.

3. I'm very confused at this time. My head is full of contrasting ideas and I know I can be frustrating to work with for this reason. But I also want to tell the truth as best I can. Everything I have said in regards to my involvement in Meredith's death, even though it is contrasting, are the best truth that I have been able to think.

I'm trying, I really am, because I'm scared for myself. I know I didn't kill Meredith. That's all I know for sure. In these flashbacks that I'm having, I see Patrik as the murderer, but the way the truth feels in my mind, there is no way for me to have known because I don't remember FOR SURE if I was at my house that night. The questions that need answering, at least for how I'm thinking are:

1. Why did Raffaele lie? (or for you) Did Raffaele lie? 2. Why did I think of Patrik? 3. Is the evidence proving my pressance at the time and place of the crime reliable? If so, what does this say about my memory? Is it reliable? 4. Is there any other evidence condemning Patrik or any other person? 3. Who is the REAL murder ? This is particularly important because I don't feel I can be used as condemning testimone in this instance.

I have a clearer mind that I've had before, but I'm still missing parts, which I know is bad for me. But this is the truth and this is what I'm thinking at this time. Please don't yell at me because it only makes me more confused, which doesn't help anyone. I understand how serious this situation is, and as such, I want to give you this information as soon and as clearly as possible.

If there are still parts that don't make sense, please ask me. I'm doing the best I can, just like you are. Please believe me at least in that, although I understand if you don't. All I know is that I didn't kill Meredith, and so I have nothing but lies to be afraid of.

End of Amanda's note.

Just to clarify, Amanda is asking herself the questions about Raffaele because she was told by the interrogators that Raffaele stopped covering for her. This simply wasn't true. Raffaele was told by his interrogators that it would be impossible for him to say for sure what Amanda was doing when he was asleep. He agreed with that fact. When he was sleeping, he couldn't say without a doubt, what Amanda was doing. The prosecutors used this information and twisted it to make Amanda believe that Raffaele had turned on her. As you can see from Amanda's note, she doesn't really believe it herself. She wrote "Did Raffaele lie?"

Amanda Knox was interrogated illegally. The interrogation should have never been heard by the jury.

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